A First Glance
by Starlight Warrior 1092
Summary: Violet first heads out into the forest, knowing that she'll be able to find her way back without getting hurt. Her first encounter with Nightblaze happens, and the bud of love blossoms. Companion to "Lone Flower in the Meadow". OneShot.


**Going through old documents, I found this and gave it a title. And edited it some, to make it better. Just so you know. :D**

**.**

_Hey, this is Starlight Warrior 1092 here with another one-shot! Hooray! This oneshot is about Violet, from my long-ish story, Lone Flower in the Meadow. This is about her meeting Nightblaze. If you haven't read Lone Flower in the Meadow, you don't have to, to read this story... but it helps._

_I do not own Warriors. Warriors (c) Erin Hunter. _

**.**

Violet raced through the soft green grass in her house folk's yard, enjoying the way it felt beneath her paws. Her brother, Twig, followed her, along with her best friend, Shadow. They were playing as they did every day. Nothing ever changed there- nothing ever _had_ to. Life was peaceful, and Violet was thankful for that. She had the best friends a cat could ask for!

"Can't catch me!" Violet meowed playfully. Her brother chased after her, and Shadow was gaining on her.

"I'll beat you this time!" Shadow growled playfully, leaping at Violet.

Violet leaped up onto the top of the fence, causing Shadow to run right into the wood of the fence. Violet purred and looked out to the forest. The tall trees stared back at her, bringing excitement to her heart.

_Violet... Violet... Violet... heart..._

"It's calling to me again," Violet meowed with no emotion, her eyes staring blankly ahead.

"A forest can't 'call' out to you; it's just a bunch of trees!" Twig meowed, his head tilting to the side. "Can it?"

"No," Shadow meowed sharply, his eyes narrowing. "It can't."

"It is, though," Violet insisted. She almost jumped off of the fence and into the forest, but Twig clamped his jaws lightly on her tail. He had jumped up next to her moments earlier.

"You're not going out there," Twig growled, his voice low. "You remember what happened with Monty? He was attacked, and lucky he came back in one piece."

"So you say," Violet meowed. "But have you ever wondered what it might be like, to be truly _free?_ Not to be a rat in a cage, stuck forever with the twolegs? I have."

"I haven't," Twig meowed. "This _is_ our freedom. This _is_ our life. Get used to it."

"Humph," Violet meowed, flicking her tail out of his mouth and across his nose. She padded across the yard, ignoring Shadow's mews of protest trying to get her to come back. _I'll show him. I'll go into the forest tomorrow. He'll see! It's safe... it's free! And maybe... maybe I won't come back._

"V**_i_**o**_l_**e**_t_**?" The twoleg made a noise. "H**_o_**w **_a_**r**_e _**y**_o_**u, **_g_**i**_r_**l**_?_**"

Violet ignored the twoleg's weird speech and padded over to her bed. _I'll show both of them!_

The next morning, Violet got up before Twig and Shadow. She snuck out of the twoleg's den, and off across the yard. She leaped the fence. Violet gazed out across the forest.

"Freedom," she whispered. Then, she saw another cat. It was a tomcat, and he had a dark, tabby striped gray pelt. His eyes were focused on a mouse, so he didn't notice Violet. _He's so handsome..._ Violet decided to get a closer look at the cat. _A clan cat? Or is it some sort of rogue? _Violet was about to step closer, when she noticed that she had lost sight of the cat.

"Mouse dung," Violet cursed, flicking her tail.

"Were you looking for me?" A slightly deep voice meowed from behind Violet. She spun around, her fur bristling, and her eyes wide.

"Who are you?" Violet spat, trying to sound fierce. She could tell how _fierce_ she was by the amused look on his face.

"Well, I'm not a lazy kittypet," the tomcat purred, not threatened at all.

"What's your name?" Violet meowed. "I'm Violet."

"My name's Nightblaze," 'Nightblaze' meowed. "I'm a new warrior of EarthClan. Now, would you like to leave our territory, or be chased out?"

"I think I'll stay," Violet meowed.

"That's not an option," Nightblaze meowed, a small frown forming on his face. He didn't look like he wanted to chase her out, but Violet still had to be a little cautious. "'Staying' isn't allowed. Okay?" His claws slip out, surprising her at how sharp they looked.

"Oh come on," Violet meowed, flicking her tail. "I only want to know what it's like to be _free!_ Just for a while," Violet meowed. She looked at him with pleading in her eyes.

"Well..." Nightblaze meowed. "I _might_ be able to teach you how to hunt and fight..."

"Really?" Violet meowed, looking into his eyes. "I would _love_ that!"

Both cats paused for a few awkward moments at the mention of the word 'love'.

"I-I mean, I'd r-really _like_ that a lot," Violet meowed.

"I know what you mean," Nightblaze purred. "Meet me back here tomorrow at sunhigh. I can start teaching you some things... basic hunting and fighting moves. We'll see... tomorrow..."

"Yeah, tomorrow," Violet meowed, hope surging through her. She was going to learn from a real forest cat!

Nightblaze nodded, picking up his mouse, and padded off. He stopped. "Oh, and don't make me chase you off my territory," Nightblaze purred. Violet purred back, a smile crossing her face. Nightblaze padded off into the forest, leaving Violet alone to go back to her twoleg nest. Violet watched until she couldn't see his striped tail anymore.

_Maybe this could be fun._ Violet jumped back up to her fence. _Maybe this could be more than just 'two cat hanging together'. Maybe, just maybe... we could be friends? Good friends..._ Violet jumped back into her yard and sat down in a patch of flowers.

Little did Violet know, this would be a long friendship... and much, much more than that. Love.

**.**

**Yeah. All of the readers who read ****Lone Flower in the Meadow****, you all know how this love starts now, and how it ends. Well... _ends_ as in... how the cats die. You get what I mean!**

**Please read and review! Er, well, review since you already read. No point in saying "read and review" if you've already read it... Heh. Please?**


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